Heritage
by aahria
Summary: Head collided with chest. Ouch… Alice looked up glaring holes through her mask at her perpetrator. "Ah! Sorry!" He apologized as he quickly glanced behind his shoulder. "Ace! We have to go!" A man yelled. Acexoc ocxAce Portgas D. Ace Portgasxoc
1. Prologue

**Heritage - Prologue**

* * *

Alice examined at the weapon in her hands. It was a fairly small katana, about 15 cm in length. The small jewel grains glittered as the light hit the black blade. Alice smiled. _It's perfect._ This kanata would surely replace her broken Kanata.

Her eyes traveled to the tuska [handle] of the katana. It consisted of a fairly simple design with the patterned color of white and pink.

"How much?" She asked the storeowner.

"One million beli." She replied with a bright smile.

Behind her mask, Alice frowned. This blade was most definitely not worth one million beli. Sure it was a good katana, but at most it would be worth five hundred thousand beli.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand beli."

This time, the storeowner frowned. Her neatly plucked eyebrows furrowed as she glared down at the katana.

"Two hundred and fifty measly beli is not enough for this intricate blade dear customer!"

Alice almost scoffed. _Its much more reasonable that one million beli._

"This blade certainly is not worth one million beli." She argued, moving her mask into place. "Please don't try to rip me off owner-san. I do not take kindly to being played." Placing a large emphasis on the words 'do not Alice's tone became significantly colder.

Clearly shaken by the dark aura emitted by Alice, the owner visibly trembled. _This girl's bad news...'_

"F-Fine. Three hundred thousand beli! That's the lowest I'll go!"

Alice nodded, pleased by the price. "Thank you owner-san." She handed the bag of beli to the shaken woman and grabbed the katana on the table. Underneath her mask she smiled softly and placed the katana in her right kimono sleeve. Thoughts consumed her as she tried to think of a name for her newly bought katana. She was so consumed of her thoughts that she didn't notice the sound of running men coming her way.

**BAM**

Head collided with chest. _Ouch… _Alice looked up glaring holes through her mask at her perpetrator.

"Ah! Sorry!" He apologized as he quickly glanced behind his shoulder.

"Ace! We have to go!" A man yelled.

The one named Ace nodded before bolting off.

"Pirates! Stop!"

Alice raised an eyebrow. _Pirates? Huh. I would have never guessed that they were pirates." _She let out a small giggle. _Oh... he left his hat._

She picked up the said hat next to her hand. _Ace … huh._


	2. Chapter one

**VeraVera**; **K.C.96: **Much thanks to you guys so much! :)

* * *

Heritage – Chapter One

* * *

Ace hated to admit it, but the marines got them cornered. The plan was to head towards their ship and escape, but unknowingly to them, marines were already surrounding their ship. _Why the hell do they have so many marines available? _He glared at the man in front of him. His golden epaulets draped his shoulders, clearly stating his authority.

"Pirates! You are under arrest for piracy! Come obediently or we'll have to use force!"

_No shit. Piracy is obviously what a pirate does. _Ace's eyes quickly scanned the marines, looking for an escape. However, the marines were tightly knit, even a small housecat would not be able to get by.

"Captain! What do we do?!" The man behind Ace panicked. Small beads of sweat formed at the base of his hairline. He was scared. Hell, even Ace was nervous.

But, Ace knew he had to calm down. He knew he had two choices. It was either they fight and make their very own escape way or let themselves be arrested. _Tch. There's no way in hell we're getting arrested here. Not here, not now._

"We'll just have to fight our way out." Ace said as he started to prepare a fist full of flames. Before he could rush towards a marine, a large fireball the size of a large watermelon pushed its way through the marines. As the fireball dissipated, smoke surrounded the space, leaving all that is beyond the marines impossible to see. The men's [men's as in both Ace's men and the marines] eyes widen at the sight of heavily injured men on the ground. "Who's are you?!" The commodore yelled angrily.

The only response he received was a small gentle laugh. It was almost melodic.

As the smoke cleared, a small petite figure stepped out. Ace took in the woman's appearance. It was the same woman he ran into earlier while trying to shake off the marines. She wore a small dainty white kimono, designed with pink Sakura flowers. Her midnight black hair was rather long, ending right before her waist. The most intriguing feature was her mask. Her simple black mask [think of Haku from Naruto's hunter nin mask, but with no designs and all black] concealed her face, masking her emotions. Then he noticed the object in her hand. Unconsciously he reached up to touch the non-existent hat on top of his head. _My hat… _

"This is rather rude isn't it… they weren't bothering any body…" Her voice snapped Ace out of his thoughts. He watched as she pulled out a short katana.

"They are pirates! All pirates are scum! After I arrest them, you're next! How dare you attack the marines!" The commodore yelled. His large fists shook with rage as he glared at the incoming woman.

"Ace… was it?" Ace turned his head to look at the said woman. He nodded.

"I believe this is yours." She tossed the hat towards the freckled man.

"Who are you?" He asked cautiously, catching his hat.

Somehow Ace could feel her smile underneath her mask. "I'm Alice." She turned around to face the shaken marines.

"Please. Carry on." She said with almost a mock polite voice. The marines hesitated. Some even stepping back.

"Well what are you waiting for?! Take her down first!" The commodore ordered, pointing his blade at the elfin woman. Multiple men rushed towards Alice, but none seemed to land a single hit. It was almost like a predator playing with its prey.

Watching men fall down one by one, the commodore decided to take matter into his own hands. "I'll take care of you first!" He decided as he thrusted his blade towards her.

Blade clashed with blade.

"Tch. Not bad… for **a woman**." He sneered. _Where is she getting this strength? _He jumped backwards to avoid the in-coming attack.

"Underestimating your opponent because she's a woman? Not a very wise move commodore."

"Shut up. I'll kill you." He glared.

Suddenly his body started shifting. Fur began to grow rapidly on his face and arms. Where his fingers and toes once were, remained paws and a pair of ears appeared on the top of his head. He grew a snout, and bared his newly grown canine fangs at the woman before him.  
Alice was genuinely surprised. _Devil fruit eater huh. _

"Surprised?" He asked. His voice two tones deeper than it were. "I ate the inu inu no mi, model Rottweiler." He grinned. Well as much of a grin a canine could do.

He ran towards Alice, full speed. Alice jumped to the side, just barley avoiding the newly turned dog.

"Not bad. Woman, you're pretty fast." He snarled. "But not fast enough." He lunged again; this time his teeth grazed Alice's midsection, drawing a small amount of blood.  
"You're rude." Alice huffed, grabbing the bleeding wound. _Dammit. He's pretty fast… Guess I don't have a choice huh. _Alice felt her tail swish and her hair tickled her arms as it grew. _I'll have use it. _

The commodore was on its way over, probably to finish her off. _As if I'm that easy to kill. _Before he could touch her, he found himself flying backwards with a large burn on his stomach, burning his fur. When the pain registered, he howled in agony. Literally.

Alice quickly retracted her tail and withered her hair back to its original length. She scanned the area, making certain that no one noticed her change in appearance. To her relief, no one did. Ace and his friends were all busy with marines to pay any attention to her. Whereas some marines were all busy with Ace and his friends and others were busy aiding the injured commodore to pay any mind.

"You bitch!"

She turned her head back to the wailing man dog. The marines around the injured man were watching her. Their weapons were raised, as if to attack at anytime.

"It's been fun." She said, almost brightly. "But all fun must end." With those final words, she struck the remaining marines and placed her blade underneath the commodore's chin. "Relax." She drawled, glancing at the blood on her white kimono. _I just got this one too… _"They're alive." Saying this seemed to ease the man slightly, but tensed when he remembered that there was a blade near his throat.

"If you're going to kill me, than do it already." He growled.

Alice paused. A small chuckle erupted from her throat.

"**What**?" He glared.

"I'm not going to kill you."

The commodore froze. _What? _Within seconds, he felt something hard hit the back of his neck. His eyes trailed to the small blood covered woman as his vision blackened.

Alice sighed and tucked her katana away. _I need to change… _

"Why did you help us?" A voice asked.

Alice turned towards the origin of the voice.

"I was merely returning your hat." She responded, turning to walk away. "Plus, I thought you were interesting." _And I was right._

Watching her retreating figure, he decided she wasn't a threat. "Ali-chan!"

She halted. _Ali-chan? _She spun around, facing the taller man. "It's **Alice**." She placed a large emphasized her name, implying her distaste for her nickname.

Ace only laughed. _Cute. _"Come on Ali-chan, we'll treat you to lunch." He motioned to his men.

"Stop calling me Ali-chan."

"Well as you know, I'm Ace." He ignored her and motioned to the shaggy brown haired boy behind him. "That's Hitori." He moved over to the next boy. He was rather tall, with maybe shoulder length black hair tired in a ponytail. "That's Jordan." Moving on her grabbed the shorter boy with a black baseball hat and sunglasses. "This is Maurice, and this…" he pointed to the last man. "This is John. We are the Spade Pirates." He said as John bowed slightly, his blond hair framing his rather attractive face.

Out of courtesy, Alice nodded slightly. "Alice." She turned to face the grinning Ace. "**Not** Ali-chan."

Ace laughed. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly before placing his hat to its rightful place. "I like Ali-chan better."

"Too bad. I don't."

"Sorry, sorry. So how about lunch Ali-ch-" A murderous aura emitted from the petite girl. "uh Alice-chan?"

* * *

**Note: The tail and hair-growing thing has to do with Alice's devil fruit abilities, which will be explained later on, along with why Alice is trying to be discreet.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter two

**ZabuzasGirl** : Haha thank you! Whitebeard will be introduced very soon! For Shanks, I'm still deciding on how I want to incorporate him into the story xD

**Ace Portgas D ; K.C.96 ; reem mohammadi** :I'm glad you guys like it:) Thank you!

* * *

Heritage – Chapter Two

* * *

"I don't understand," Alice says, almost glaring at the cards in her hands.

"It's really not that complicated," Jordan, the self-proclaimed poker expert smirks, sitting forward on the wooden chair. _This is too easy. _"You just have to have to end up with the highest valued hand Alice."

Hitori snorts from next to John on the other side of the table and Jordan shoots him a withering glare. _He does this every time._ Every time Jordan is in a game of poker with a beginner, Jordan would use the clueless amateur to his advantage. In a way, he was a hustler.

"Flush." Maurice says as he places five spades on the table. Two, four, seven, jack and king.

"Not so fast my man." Jordan grins. "Four of a kind."

Groans reached his ears as he gleefully claps his hands like a child.

"You're a pro Jordan, it's not fair to us commoners." Ace cries as he unwillingly hands his beli to Jordan. "Hey Ali-chan, what cards do you have?"

Alice glares at the freckled man. "Don't call me Ali-chan." _Annoying._ She places her ten cards flat out on the table. _I still don't understand this game. _

The sound of money being collected stopped abruptly as the boy's mouths gapped wide open.  
"Th-That's a **Royal Flush**!" Hitori exclaimed excitedly. "Alice got a Royal Flush!"

"What's a Royal Flush?"

"That's the highest hand!" Ace laughs. "You're not that great after all neh Jordan,"

"Beginners luck…" Jordan grumbles as he hands the beli over to Alice. "I want a rematch," Jordan hits the table and glares at the amused woman next to him.

Alice only laughs as she places her money in her kimono sleeve. [dang, she can fit a ton of stuff in there haha] "Maybe next time," _Yeah right, as if I'd play this ridiculous game ever again. _Thinking back, she did recall Marco and Thatch playing this game a couple of times on the Moby Dick. Though, she was just never interested in playing. Hell, she didn't even know how she was convinced to play with the Spade Pirates in the first place. All she remembered was eating lunch with the crew then ending up with cards in her hands.

Okay, maybe she did agree to play because she had time before her log pose set, or maybe because she found the crew rather fascinating, especially the freckled captain. No matter what the reason was, the fact is, she played. First time ever and last. Even after a ten minute brief on how to play, she still didn't understand how anyone could completely memorize what hand was what and what hand was better than the other. It was complete luck that she won.

"It was nice meeting you lot, but I better get going." She smiles. _There's no way, I'm sitting through another game._ She knew her log pose hasn't finished setting yet, but the first game was bad enough. Sitting through another game will only bore her to death.

"Aw c'mon Ali-chan," No sooner than the words left Ace's mouth, Alice shot the man another smoldering glare. However, the hat-wearing brunette simply ignored her gaze and laughed. "What's the rush? Lets play another game."

"No." Alice got up and gave the crew a short bow. "I'll see you around." Ignoring the group's protests, she walked out the casino.

* * *

Alice knew she was being followed. She rolled her eyes as she stopped at a market stand. _Childish. _She picked up a small hand-mirror and arranged it in an angle where she can see her stalker.

Behind the cobblestone corner, Ace watched as the masked woman picked a small mirror. _What is she…. **Oh shit.**_ It was too late. She already saw him. _Oh well._ He let out a small chuckle as he walked over to her. "You caught me." He says as he scratches the back of his head sheepishly. He wasn't expecting her not to catch him following her. He just didn't anticipate her to catch him so quickly.

"Why are you following me?" Alice asks while placing the mirror back on the stand. _Shouldn't he be playing poker with his crew? _

Ace laughs nervously. "Ah... um... I wanted to uh,"

"Never mind, what do you want?" Alice dismisses his poor excuse to create an excuse. She didn't particularly care what his reasoning was. _Fifteen minutes till the log pose sets. _

"Nothing really." He smiles. Alice rolls her eyes. _Buffoon. _She turns around and proceeds to walk away from speckled man.

"Hey Ali-chan, wait up!"

Alice gave up on correcting Ace. He was obviously intent on calling her 'Ali-chan'.

Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away. She needed to leave this island and head to Windmill Hill. She was already behind schedule.

"Ali-chan~," Ace sang. Alice resisted the urge to giggle. "Ali-chan, I know you can hear me~," By now, they were walking side by side, Ace's eyes on her the entire time, while singing her name.

"**What**?!" She exclaimed, halting her steps as she faces the grinning man before her. "Stop following me!"

"No can do~,"

"Why not?!"

"Because I don't want to~,"

"…"

She sighed. This man was something else. _He is definitely an interesting character, an idiot, but interesting none less. _"Go back to your crew. I'm about to leave this island anyway." She says as she continues to walk towards the shore.

"Neh, don't be so-"

Alice stopped. _Is he not going to finish his sentence? _ She turned around and panicked. _Did he die?! …. Wait. _"**Who the hell falls asleep while walking?!**" She exclaims. "**Oy, idiot! Wake up!**" She grabbed Ace's shoulders and shook the sleeping man.

"Uh... huh?" Ace blinks. "What are you doing here Ali-chan?"

"**You fell asleep while walking you buffoon!**" Alice was fuming. _What the hell is wrong with this kid?! _

"Oh," He yawns. "Sorry, sorry Ali-chan."

Alice lets out a sigh, "Does this happen often?"

"Yeah," he laughs sheepishly.

"You narcoleptic idiot,"

* * *

**A/N: Check my profile bio for link to Alice's appearance. **


	4. Chapter three

**ZabuzasGirl:** Shanks will definitely be in the story later on to meet Ace:-)

**missNOBODYa. :** Yes

**Savage Kill:** Yes & thank you x

* * *

_Heritage – Chapter Three_

* * *

A dark look crossed Alice's crimson orbs as she stared at the dark liquid in her palms.

"You haven't been taking your medication, have you." A voice stated, annoyance lacing his words.

Alice rolled her eyes and turned on the water faucet to wash off the blood. She hated the medicine Kenji prescribed. He claimed that the thick liquid was cherry flavored but anyone can tell it didn't taste a least bit like cherries. If she could describe the taste, it would be a mixture between rotten apple and rotten tofu.

"You need to take them Alice. They are to help you. You already only have a couple of years left as it is."

Alice whipped around to face the sandy haired doctor, glaring into his deep amethyst eyes. "So what? I'm bound to die sooner or later!" She furrows her eyebrows, a large frown etched into her features.

"But your life can be prolonged Alice." Kenji sighed, pushing up his glasses. "Without the medicine you would probably last for about a year, with two at most." He paused and outstretched the medicine towards the petite woman. "You know, if you keep having this mindset, you'll even hurt your comrades."

Alice scoffed at his words and grabbed the medicine from Kenji's hands. "Not if they knew who I really was." She whispered as she took a gulp of the horrendous potion.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll take the stupid medication."

Kenji eyed her retreating figure. "You better! Or next time I'll beat you myself!"

Alice smiled and waved her hand as if to dismiss his words. "Oh please, bring it Ken-kun."

* * *

Alice sighed as she approached large ship, known as the Moby Dick. It's been two weeks since she left.

"Alice!"

She turned her head and smiled when she saw Marco and Thatch. The duo was waving furiously at the small woman.

She chuckled slightly and waved back. She'll greet them after reporting to Whitebeard.

"Johnny, is pops in his room?" She asked the brown haired man mopping the deck.

"Ah Commander Alice!" He jumped and dropped his mop. He didn't notice Alice's presence. He picked up the mop and faced her sheepishly. "Ahahaha yeah, pop's is in is room."

She briefly thanked him and proceeded to walk to Whitebeard's room.

**Knock knock knock**

"Pops, are you awake?"

Alice heard some shuffling and small grunt. She assumed that meant a yes. She creaked the door open and saw Whitebeard lying in bed, with multi medical tubes and a large book.

"You're back." He stated, while shutting the book.

Alice gave the giant man a brief nod while walking towards him and sitting down on the nearby chair.

"Yeah," She shifted her eyes to the book.

_**The Great Mountain**_

"Will that be our future destination?"

Whitebeard followed her gaze to the book. "Yes. It's a rather interesting island. Gurararararara!" He laughed.

Alice smiled. His laugh was rather peculiar, **almost** contagious.

"I bet it is," she paused. She waited for his laugh to die down. "I got the book you fancied at Windmill Island." She took the book out from inside her black kimono sleeve. "And I went to see Kenji like you wanted."

The elder perked up at the mention of the sandy haired doctor.

"And?"

"... Same ol', same ol'. There still isn't a definite cure." She said as if talking about a minor problem.

Whitebeard frowned. He hoped the young doctor was able to find a cure for his beloved daughter. [no they aren't blood related father and daughter] It pained him to know that she'll die young. With the rate the cancer was spreading, she would most likely die before himself. Fortunately, the doctor was able to whip up a medicine to slow the growth, thus extending her life. Problem was, Alice hated it.

"I'll start taking the medicine regularly." She promised, avoiding the man's gaze. It was as if she read his thoughts.

Her thoughts then traced back to her earlier conversation with Kenji.

Though it was true, her comrades might not think of her the same if they knew who she really was, Whitebeard already knew. She spilled everything to the man she now call her father and even with the shocking story, he still accepted her as his own. For that, she was truly grateful.

"I'm glad." He says softly, giving her a small smile. "Go greet Marco and Thatch now. They have been raving about your return to the newcomer for days now."

_Newcomer? _

"What newcomer?"

Whitebeard grinned. "Go meet them." He ushered.

Alice raised an eyebrow as she walked out of the room with a look of bewilderment.

"Alice! Come meet the new guy!" She heard Thatch shout.

She shook her head and giggled. _Oh Thatch_.

She walked towards the men and stopped in her tracks as her eyes fell upon the freckled boy she met three months ago.

"**You're** the new guy?"

"Alice, you know Ace?" Marco asked, running a hand through his blonde locks.

"Yeah, we bumped into each other a couple of months back."

"Haha, who would of guessed you're the Second Division Commander Ali-chan." Ace grinned as he eyed the black haired woman. She no longer had that black mask on her face. He took in her features. The most prominent feature was her blood red eyes and the small black mole underneath her right eye. To sum it up, her features fit her face perfectly.

He had assumed that she had some kind of deformity to have her want to cover it up with a mask but, as he scanned her face, he failed to find any sign of abnormality. _So, why the mask?_

Alice succumbed to her urge to roll her eyes. "Shut up you narcoleptic idiot."

Thatch threw an arm around the girl and laughed. "Now, now Ali-chan," he looked at the small woman only to see a deadly glare. "Don't be mean." He teased.

"Don't call me that." She sighed and plucked Thatch's arm off.

"But why not Ali-chan?" He continued, completely unfazed by her glare.

Next to Thatch, Ace smirked. He deemed it fun seeing her annoyed. "Ali-chan, is a rather cute name, don't you think Thatch? Marco?"

Thatch grinned, acknowledging Ace's monkeying.

"Yes, yes. I find Ali-chan to be an adorable name! What about you Marco?"

Marco stared at the two for a moment before shaking his head and let out a hearty laugh. "Don't drag me into this."

He gave the men a lazy look. "You know Alice is rather scary when she's mad Thatch." He turned his attention to Ace. "Trust me, you **don't** want to see this woman mad."

"Marco!" She hissed.

The boys laughed.

"Sorry, sorry Alice." Marco smiled as he outstretched his hands for a hug.

She pushed his hands away and walked away from the trio.

However, she didn't get far. Marco chased after her and engulfed her into a large embrace.

Ace and Thatch laughed as they watched as Alice struggled to break free from Marco's strong clasp.

"She's a good girl."

Ace turned his attention to the pompadour haired man. Thatch had a large grin plastered on his face and was no longer looking at Marco and Alice, but looking at Ace.

"Unlike the rest of us here, she isn't much of a fighter."

Ace raised an eyebrow. _How can a pirate be not much of a fighter?_

Thatch glanced at Marco and Alice briefly before turning his attention back to Ace. "She chose the pirate life to be free." He said as if answering to Ace's thoughts. "Don't go asking her now." He laughed, slapping the younger boy's back. "She is very keen on keeping her past hidden."

"What could be so ba-"

"Hey Thatch!" Alice interrupted the freckled teen. She was racing towards the two men, with a small pout. "Why is **he **in my division?!"

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**A/N: I swear I didn't make Alice sick just for the hell of it. It'll all come together as the story progresses I promise **


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